Betty Ann (Traut) Holmes

1932 – 2026

Betty Holmes, Oneida Street, Verona Beach, died peacefully in her home on Friday February 13, 2026. She was 94. Born in Remsen, New York, on January 19, 1932, she was the daughter of William Cornelius and Zola (Johnson) Traut. Betty was a resident of Verona Beach for the past fifty years, where she married James Holmes, a highway supervisor for the State of New York, and helped him run the boatyard business he started, Holmes Marina. Betty had four children from a previous marriage, and Jim brought two children to the marriage. Their children, together, added to the family loving in-laws, fourteen grandchildren, twenty-five great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.  

Betty worked at the Gold Dome Bank in Utica, NY, and the Onondaga County Bank in Syracuse, NY in her early years, and later for Howard S. Crane, Inc., a farm equipment supply company in Oneida, NY. She was the purchasing agent for Oneida County, the county's consumer affairs director, and the vice president of the Oneida County Republican Party. She later became the town clerk for the Town of Verona, also in New York State. She loved boating, motorcycling, and socializing with her many friends in the beach area or at their second home in Morriston, Florida.

Surviving are her three loving daughters, Christine Peterson of Townshend, Vermont, Cynthia (Michael) Brown of Baldwinsville, NY, Donna (George) Clark of Morriston, FL, as well as Jim’s children, Jackie (Bruce) Hodge of Old Forge, and Ed (Joann) Holmes of Verona Beach. Betty was predeceased by her parents, William and Zola, brothers, William and Merwin, a sister Jane, husband Jim, her son, William (wife Tekla), and son-in-law, Iver Peterson.

Betty’s family wishes to acknowledge, with much gratitude, her special friends, Sarah Congden, Sherry Warren, Sherry Foster, Wendy Ulrich, David Alberico, and her granddaughter, Lisa Clark.

Funeral services will be held on Sunday February 22, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. at the Nicholas J. Bush Funeral Home, Inc., 7751 Merrick Rd., Rome, N.Y. 13440. Relatives and friends may call at the funeral home, on Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., prior to the service. A graveside service will take place at a later date at Fish Creek Cemetery in Verona Beach New York.

In keeping with Betty’s wishes, please do not send flowers. Instead, memorial contributions in Betty’s name may be made to the Sylvan Beach Fire Department, P.O. Box 503, Sylvan Beach, NY 13157 or to Hospice and Palliative Care, 4277 Middle Settlement Road, New Hartford, N.Y. 13413, or online at www.hospicecareinc.org.

To offer online condolences, please visit www.njbushfuneralhome.com